I Have Lived a Thousand Years

Foreword

Reading Check

1. Seeshaupt, Germany (Foreword)

2. 18 (Foreword)

Short Answer

1. She hopes telling of “past evils” will help prevent future evil. By learning about how prejudice and intolerance lead to suffering, she hopes that it will instill a commitment to fight them. (Foreword)

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. A poet (Chapter 1)

2. “To safeguard our best interests” (Chapter 2)

3. A bicycle (Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. Her brother makes a joke of it—he pretends he’s been awarded a medal. Bitton-Jackson refuses to be seen wearing it. (Chapter 4)

2. Mr. Stern, an acquaintance, is praying at the western wall. He suggests they pray for the “long road ahead,” foreshadowing the difficult times to come. (Chapter 5)

Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. Food (Chapter 7)

2. Because she is asleep (Chapter 8)

3. Bedsheets (Chapter 10)

Short Answer

1. She feels happy to share a common bond with her community. Sequestered there together, she feels a sense of connection with her fellow Jewish friends and neighbors. (Chapter 6)

2. Bitton-Jackson witnesses another resident asking if she can keep one baby photo, but the guards deny her. Bitton-Jackson is suspicious that the guards tell the truth, so she sneaks her poem notebook out. (Chapter 9)

Chapters 11-15

Reading Check

1. 16 (Chapter 12)

2. “Work sets you free” (Chapter 13)

3. 3 days (Chapter 14)

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Because that is where she has hidden her poetry book for safekeeping (Chapter 11)

2. A riot takes place on Bitton-Jackson’s first night in Auschwitz, which spreads panic throughout the barracks. (Chapter 15)

Chapters 16-20

Reading Check

1. A windowpane (Chapter 16)

2. Aunt Celia (Chapter 17)

3. Kapos (Chapter 18)

Short Answer

1. In the main square of Camp Plaszow, Bitton-Jackson observes the SS shooting a group of 60 civilians. She realizes that, though she’s seen many dead bodies, this is her first time seeing people actively killed. She also ruminates on the nature of death. (Chapter 19)

2. The SS tells a group of inmates that they will be shot at dawn for their poor work. The “miracle” is that the SS never come; Bitton-Jackson and her mother remain alive. (Chapter 20)

Chapters 21-25

Reading Check

1. Because of the heat (Chapter 21)

2. Mrs. Grünwald and her daughter Ilse (Chapter 23)

3. German factories (Chapter 25)

Short Answer

1. Laura cannot seem to follow the SS’s directions. She staggers along, unable to get in formation. When a soldier asks Laura if she is able to work, she replies yes, but only after prompting by Bitton-Jackson. (Chapter 22)

2. She is forced to kneel on the gravel in front of the command barrack for 24 hours without food or drink as punishment. There, she sees the “endless rows” of cell blocks and the massive marching column of new arrivals marching into the camp (Chapter 24)

Chapters 26-30

Reading Check

1. She hides it in her shoe (Chapter 27)

2. Augsburg (Chapter 28)

3. The Montage group (Chapter 29)

Short Answer

1. Bitton-Jackson is, at first, declared unfit to work. However, she puts on a dress and sneaks back into the selection line, concealing her leg wound. After this, she is selected by the SS for the German work camp. (Chapter 26)

2. It is an assertion of Laura’s Jewish identity, even in the direst of circumstances. It is also an affirmation of hope–that there is reason to live on. (Chapter 30)

Chapters 31-35

Reading Check

1. Austria (Chapter 33)

2. They’re allowed to eat from the stores. (Chapter 34)

3. Bubi (Chapter 35)

Short Answer

1. Bitton-Jackson had become so weak due to starvation that she collapsed at her factory machine. “Goat” carried her to the medical office and escorted her back without reporting the incident. (Chapter 31)

2. She dreams that her father is transfixed by a bird made of gold, but when he looks at it, he turns to stone. The gold bird could potentially be a Nazi symbol; the dream might represent Bitton-Jackson being traumatized by her father’s death. (Chapter 32)

Chapters 36-40

Reading Check

1. Under their boxcar (Chapter 36)

2. Her eyes (Chapter 37)

3. The Israeli national anthem (Chapter 40)

Short Answer

1. Their hometown is now named Šamorin. Bitton-Jackson finds their home empty, covered in dust. Bitton-Jackson feels that nothing is left to keep them there. (Chapter 38)

2. She finds the sense of freedom “intoxicating” (186). She attends school again, just like a normal girl. Like many of the other Jewish survivors, they speak only of their future—not of the past—which lies far from their homelands. Many wish to start fresh in North America or Palestine. (Chapter 39)